Time To Say Goodbye
by HatterSaz
Summary: When Naruto's apartment gets trashed in front of Naruto and, his rival, Sasuke. The blond lets a secret slip. How will Sasuke react? Will he care? Or will he leave him be?


It was Christmas eve and Naruto sat on his roof, singing to himself to cure his boredom...and maybe to feel a little less lonely. "You would not believe your eyes, If ten million fireflies, Lit up the world as I fell asleep..." Naruto paused and sighed as the snow started falling in the sunrise. Being alone sucked. But being alone on a holiday sucked ten times worse. Naruto looked over the hidden leaf as he continued his song.

Sasuke was having trouble sleeping and decided that he would go to the Hokage heads to get a good view of the sunrise. He was strolling past Naruto's apartment when he heard a voice. _"No one should be awake now, it's too early!"_ Sasuke thought as he searched his surroundings looking for the source. He was about to give up when he spotted someone on the roof. "Naruto?" He was stunned to see his classmate on the roof so early, considering he usually slept in while on academy days. What caught him really off guard was how good Naruto's singing voice was. _"He's actually really good."_

Naruto sang a few more songs while Sasuke stood and listened, the sun slowly rising in the snowy sky. Another song finished and Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. Sasuke decided he would talk to Naruto and opened his mouth to shout over. However, he quickly shut it when he heard a big crash. Naruto jumped a little and opened his eyes in shock. He waited a few minutes to see if anyone would speak, if they did they were probably villagers, but if not then he needed to be ready for a fight.

Naruto and Sasuke froze for a whole two minutes before laughter was heard from Naruto's apartment. "Hahahaa Merry Christmas you stupid demon!" "Take that! Ha! Happy new year ya filthy monster!" Sasuke felt anger build up inside of him. What he wouldn't give to punch their lights out...but wait, if he was like this. What was Naruto feeling? Sasuke looked up to Naruto and saw pain. Naruto was on the verge of tears, and all he could do was curl up on the roof. Sasuke knew he needed to comfort him and walked towards the building. Stopping so he could be at the perfect angle to jump up, he readied himself. Only to stumble when he heard sprinting down the street. Naruto sighed and looked at the running culprits. Sasuke waited for him to chase them, but he didn't move. Instead, he sighed again and spoke, "What's the point? It's not the first time, and it won't be the last." Sasuke stood, startled at Naruto's words. _"It's not the first time?! So, this has happened before?...Those guys are going to pay when I get my hands on them!"_

Sasuke slowly calmed himself down so he could comfort Naruto. He was about to jump up when Naruto started speaking again. "One year...only one year left." Naruto spoke gently, clearly holding back tears. _"Only one year? What is he talking about?" _As Sasuke was thinking Naruto spoke again, more determined this time. "This time next year, I'll be a Genin. Giving me the perfect time and reason to disappear and never be found." Sasuke stepped backwards, shocked at Naruto's words. Why, why would someone who was determined to be Hokage, just suddenly turn around and choose to disappear? It made no sense to Sasuke. "I'm sorry Mum, Dad. But I can't stay here...not when there is no one who cares for me...no, not when there isn't anyone who even likes me the tiniest bit. Believe it." Naruto was smiling now, but this smile was different to his usual smile. This smile had visible signs of pain and sadness. Signs of everlasting scars that no one could heal. Sasuke finally understood. Or at least he knew why Naruto would want to leave. Maybe he didn't know how the bullying felt, or the constant fear of being attacked in your own home. But he knew the pain of being alone, and how much it hurt. He also knew how much that pain was amplified in the holidays.

Sasuke contemplated leaving him be. It was Naruto's choice after all, even if it would mean losing a rival. No, Naruto was more than that. He may not have acknowledged it at first, but Naruto was Sasuke's friend. He had to do something, anything. _"That's it."_ He thought. Sasuke had the perfect idea to make his friend realise he had someone who cared. Neither of them would be lonely this year. Not if Sasuke had anything to say about it. Sasuke ran towards the market with great speed and a smile spread across his face. Naruto heard the quick clatter of footsteps and turned to see Sasuke running away. _"What's he in a hurry for?"_

The next day, Naruto decided he would sleep in. No one would be visiting anyway right? Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Naruto sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He checked the clock next to him. _"9 o'clock? Who would be knocking at this time? And on Christmas day no less."_ He got out of his make shift bed and carefully stepped around the broken furniture and glass to get to the door. He wasn't prepared for who was there. So much so his eyes widened and he wiped his eyes to makes sure it wasn't a trick or illusion. "Sasuke?" He said with shock evident in his voice. Sasuke looked around, as if looking for someone. Either that or he was looking to make sure no one knew he was at Naruto's house. Sasuke lifted a bag into Naruto's view and said, "Do you mind if I spend Christmas with you?" Naruto noticed that Sasuke had slightly blushed at his own question and nodded. "Um...sure but...you'll have to be careful. I was gonna clean it today." Naruto opened the door wider and stepped aside so Sasuke could get past. Sasuke took his shoes off and looked around. The damage was worse than he thought. All of the furniture had been either torn apart or smashed. The windows had been broken and the doors were off the hinges. Sasuke looked around in shock, he couldn't believe someone would do this, and to a kid no less. He noticed the makeshift bed of a broken door held up by academy books, covered by half a curtain. Naruto walked next to Sasuke after closing the door and chose to break the unbearable silence by asking, "What's in the bag?" Sasuke snapped back to the conversation and replied with a snide tone, "Food, there is no way I'm eating ramen." Naruto pouted and went to sit on the patch of floor that had been cleaned so he could sit down. Sasuke walked a bit further, but stopped when he noticed writing on the walls. Words had been written all over and in blood red paint. There were words like, "Monster" "Demon" and "DIE!" There was even a sentence written on the longest wall. "Get out or pay the price brat!" Sasuke could feel the rage build up again. _"Naruto is not a monster! But whoever wrote this is!"_

The boys sat and talked until lunch, it turned out that they had a lot in common. They tag teamed cooking and ended up making pancakes. They actually tasted pretty good, for amateur cooks at least. They continued talking and laughing until dinner time. They cooked a curry, with great difficulty and sat down to eat. They were half way through the meal when Sasuke put down his fork. "You full already?" Naruto said confused. Sasuke shook his head and grabbed the bag he had brought with him. He fumbled with the bag and eventually pulled out a red box. It was a present! It was neatly wrapped too. "Sasuke? What is-" Before Naruto finished his sentence, Sasuke cut him off. "It's a present..." Sasuke's voice had turned into a whisper, "Merry Christmas." Sasuke's cheek were tomato red as he held out the package. Naruto took the present and began to unwrap it. "Thank you Sasuke." A smile swept across Naruto's face, and the bad stuff that clouded his mind seemed to fly away. The wrapping fell to the floor and Naruto could feel his eyes well up. Sasuke had bought him a pair of goggles. Much like the pair that Sasuke had broke in one of their scuffles. "Thank you..." Sasuke looked at Naruto to see he was crying. "It's no big deal dobe." Sasuke's attempt at cheering Naruto up, or angering him so he wouldn't cry anymore, failed because Naruto couldn't stop. Sasuke sighed and decided to ask the big question that lingered on his mind. "Hey, can I..." He paused to look away and rub the back of his neck. Naruto looked at Sasuke confused, taking deep breathes every once in a while to calm the flow of tears. "Can I come with you?...in a year I mean." Naruto's eyes widened. "W-w-what do you m-mean?" Naruto was getting fidgety and uncomfortable. He was clearly embarrassed and worried that Sasuke was laughing when he was singing. "I heard what you said...and...I want to come with you." Naruto was astonished that Sasuke asked and watched as Sasuke's face turned bright red. _"Why? Why would he want to come with me? He's the most popular in class and, I guess a good shinobi. So why?"_

Naruto couldn't work it out. Noticing this Sasuke began to explain, "I know what it's like to be alone now and..." Sasuke's head lowered as he was quickly saddened by his own words. That's when it dawned on Naruto. Sasuke lost his family a few months ago, so he did know how it felt. Sasuke looked up and continued, "...I think that we can help each other to not feel alone." Naruto was clearly shocked, but after a few seconds his face grew into a warming smile. "Ok." Sasuke was slightly taken back to the fact Naruto had said yes. Sasuke looked down and smiled shyly, happy that he had a new friend. They sat for the rest of the night talking about when and where they would go in a years time. That night was a good night for both the boys, and they knew it would only get better.

A year passed and both boys had successfully made genin rank and were selected to be a part of team 7 with Sakura Haruno, one of Sasuke's many fan girls, and Kakashi Hatake, a Junín ninja that would lead the team. It was close, Naruto wouldn't have passed if it wasn't for Sasuke's tutoring. That's when Sasuke had learnt that the only reason Naruto wasn't the best in class even though he was the hardest worker, was because he had no one to teach him before the academy, or after hours. The two were best friends now and were hardly ever seen apart. The only real times they were seperated were when it was late and they were in bed at their own houses, or when Sasuke had to run ahead of Naruto to escape his fan girls grasp.

It was now Christmas eve again. The two knew what that meant and spent the night packing. Thanks to Naruto's quick thinking and sheer persistence at the last team meeting, the group got a higher ranked mission that would take them out of the village. It was a C rank so not too difficult. That meant they didn't have to feel bad abandoning the team mid fight.

As dawn rose on a new day in the village, the three genin stood waiting for their sensei to arrive. Yet again he was late, but that didn't matter. It was time to leave and Naruto couldn't be happier. Sakura looked at the boys in confusion, "Guys, why do your bags looked so heavily packed? We're only going on a short escort mission." Sasuke refused to reply but, Naruto came up with a believable answer, "This mission could go for longer than expected so I packed as much ramen as I could in my bag. Believe it!" Naruto was grinning wildly as Sakura sighed in annoyance. Her eyes then found their way back to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, why is your bag so big?" Sasuke looked at her, slightly coldly, he was annoyed that she was asking again. "Because that dobe couldn't fit all his ramen in his own bag and refused to leave it behind." Sasuke grinned in Naruto's direction as Naruto turned red from anger. He then yelled, "DON'T CALL ME DOBE TEME!" The group heard chuckling and turned to see their sensei behind them. "YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in unison. "I saw a black cat and had to take the long way round so we didn't get bad luck for our mission." "THAT'S A LIE!" Sakura shouted at him. As the two argued, well, more like Sakura shouted at Kakashi while he stood there and took it, as usual. Naruto stared at the village. Knowing the other two wouldn't hear him, Sasuke asked, "Having second thoughts?" Naruto smiled and sighed in relief, "Nope, just saying goodbye." He looked at Sasuke smiling, then started walking toward the gate. The two headed out of the village, shortly followed by Sakura and Kakashi. Naruto looked back at the Hokage cliff, looking directly at the fourth's head, _"Bye Dad. Bye Mum."_

THE END


End file.
